When the College Football Playoff rankings are released today

Today marks the first time fans will see the College Football Playoff rankings for the 2025 season as the selection committee is set to release its first Top 25 poll.

When you can see the release of the College Football Playoff rankings today. / USA Today Sports | IMAGN

One of the key dates on college football’s calendar has arrived, as the College Football Playoff selection committee is set to reveal its first top 25 rankings of the 2025 season.

Up to now, college football fans had to be content with just the traditional AP top 25 and the Coaches Poll, but from now going forward, what they get over the next five Tuesdays will have direct impact on what the 12-team national championship field looks like.

When will they reveal their choices? Here’s the full schedule for when the College Football Playoff rankings will go live in the 2025 season.

College Football Playoff rankings schedule for 2025

All times Eastern

CFP rankings release No. 1
Tues., Nov. 4 at 8 p.m.

CFP rankings release No. 2
Tues., Nov. 11 at 7 p.m.

CFP rankings release No. 3
Tues., Nov. 18 at 8:30 p.m.

CFP rankings release No. 4
Tues., Nov. 25 at 7 p.m.

CFP rankings release No. 5
Tues., Dec. 2 at 7 p.m.

Selection Sunday
Sun., Dec. 7 at 12 p.m.

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College football playoff rankings criteria

College Football Playoff selectors create top 25 rankings based on their evaluation of teams’ performance on the field.

The committee employs several metrics to select the best teams.

• Strength of schedule
• Head-to-head game results
• Results vs. teams in top 25 rankings
• Results vs. common opponents
• Conference championships

How the rankings are made

According to the College Football Playoff guidelines, the selection committee ranks teams based on the members’ evaluation of teams’ play on the field using a number of metrics to decide among teams that are comparable.

The committee’s 13 members then create their own list of 30 teams they believe are the best in college football. Those groups of teams, in no special order, are further ranked when three or more members agree on their selections.

How metrics play a role

College Football Playoff electors also use advanced analytics to gauge teams’ play, and those numbers will play a more formal role in the committee creating its top 25 rankings.

“Changes for the upcoming season include enhancements to the tools that the selection committee uses to assess schedule strength and how teams perform against their schedule,” the College Football Playoff said. 

“The current schedule strength metric has been adjusted to apply greater weight to games against strong opponents. An additional metric, record strength, has been added to the selection committee’s analysis to go beyond a team’s schedule strength to assess how a team performed against that schedule.

“This metric rewards teams defeating high-quality opponents while minimizing the penalty for losing to such a team. Conversely, these changes will provide minimal reward for defeating a lower-quality opponent while imposing a greater penalty for losing to such a team.”

More college football from SI: Top 25 Rankings | Schedule | Teams

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